Settling the Score
by VanillaBean75
Summary: Joan has been deceived, and now it’s time for payback! LG


Settling the Score 

Summary: Joan has been deceived, and now it's time for payback!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Joan of Arcadia, I just like getting out the characters to play with them.

Pairing: Mostly L/G, although it's nothing remotely mushy, unfortunately.

Author's Note: Everyone is pretty OOC, but whatever. Anything for the laugh, although it was probably funnier in my head.

-----------------

Joan Girardi hung up the phone after talking with the neighbor down the street and frowned. Ms. Elton had called, asking Joan if she could watch her two kids for the afternoon. The last thing Joan wanted to do on one of the last days of August was watch a couple of brats. Not that they were actually brats, Joan admitted, but she had planned on spending a leisurely day, relaxing and pampering herself with perfumed baths and nail polish. Joan sighed, resigned. Ms. Elton was a single parent, and their regular baby sitter had a family emergency. Andy and Elise were nice kids. Seven and nine, which made them old enough to be fun and able to listen to her, so it would be a pretty easy job.

Joan looked outside her bedroom window at cloudless sky. The air outside was already thick with humidity that was characteristic of Maryland at that time of the year. She figured that none of them would want to sit around the house. Maybe she could borrow the car, and take them to a nearby lake. She'd see if Luke wanted to go, and maybe even convince Grace to come, so that she would have young-adult conversation while the kids played. Adam, unfortunately, was working until the evening, hence the reason for the planned day of pampering. She would just have to settle for Grace and Luke as company.

After securing the car for the day, Joan walked up the stairs to Luke's door, knocked, and opened it after his voice called, "Enter."

Joan would never admit it out loud, but she considered her brother among her best friends. Luke was a geek beyond all belief, but at least she could take him out in public, and not worry—too much—that he would be a total embarrassment. Joan had to acknowledge that when she looked around at the guys near her age, there were few that didn't totally disgust her. She was glad that her brother was one of them.

"Hey, dog boy, I got sucked into watching the Elton kids and decided to take them to the lake. Wanna come?" Joan asked. Luke was at his computer, facing Joan as she stood at the door. His room was strewn with models of atoms and solar systems, and other paraphernalia that fascinated his scientific mind. If Physics was about logic and order, Joan wondered, why did Luke room always remind her of chaos?

"Uh. I can't, I have plans today," he said with an expression that said he hoped she wouldn't ask for details.

Which, of course, was an invitation for interrogation, as far as Joan was concerned. "What are you doing?" She waited, but Luke kept his eyes trained on his computer screen, and his lips resolutely pressed together. "You've been running off for hours at a time all summer. What, you have a secret lover, or something?"

Luke shot her a look of complete disbelief. "That's ridiculous, Joan. I'm in the middle of researching a fascinating..."

"Come on, Luke, I need company at the lake," Joan whined, a technique which usually worked on her obliging younger brother. Usually.

"Can't. Sorry."

"Fine, you have fun with you science toys" Joan sighed and turned to leave. "I guess I'll have to twist Grace's arm into coming."

"Oh, I...uh..." Luke stopped. Joan turn back to him, her eyebrows cocked as she waited for him to finish. "Yeah, you guys have fun."

Joan shut the door and shook her head. Not even the prospect of spending the day with Grace Polk had induced Luke to come. He must be really into his project.

-----------------

Dressed in khaki knee-length shorts and a light T-shirt, Luke stood with his back resting against the light pole, and legs stretching in front of him, until his feet almost reached the center of the sidewalk. Grace looked down at the sidewalk, and tried to smother her smile, as she continued walking to the corner to meet him. Never in a million years would have Grace Polk guessed that the sight of the lanky figure, dressed in such a preppy outfit, would cause her face to grow warm and her heart to speed up.

"Hey," she called, as she reached him, jogging the last few feet.

"Hi," Luke smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and giving them a small squeeze. "Joan called you?" he asked as they continued walking the direction Grace had been heading.

"Yeah. I had to listen to her beg me to go with her to the lake for a whole ten minutes before she got mad at me and hung up the phone."

"Yeah. She asked me too. I understand her wanting company. The kids are good, but who wants to spend the day with just two little kids? I wanted to see what you thought about one of us going with her."

Grace, though impressed with his consideration for his sister, didn't much like that idea. She hadn't seen Luke all week, and she had been surprised at how much she was looking forward to that day. Luke had spent the last few days in the forensic lab at the police station. After spending time at lab on Take Your Child to Work Day, the head technician invited him down a couple of times during the summer to learn more about forensics. This week Luke went in two days in a row.

"That sounds like a pointless way to spend the day," she answered.

Luke smiled down at her. "We could both go. Tell her our plans changed. We can be discreet." His arm, no longer around her shoulders, was hanging loosely at his side, and their arms brushed each other as they walked.

They had been careful about the time they spent together, careful to not be seen together by their families and friends. Grace knew she was being unfair to ask Luke to not disclose their relationship, but she needed time to get used to the idea of their dating herself before she could face the entire world knowing. By some unspoken agreement, they were never with Joan at the same time, and as a result, finding time to be together was tricky. It usually meant making secret plans and stealing away at a moment's notice. Not easy when Luke's sister was Grace's best friend, but somehow they had managed it. Today was a rare occurrence in that it had been planned two whole days earlier, via instant messaging, when they knew both of them had no other plans.

Grace glanced up at him, and scoffed, "Right, geek, like I'd trust you to play it cool around your sister. You'd totally blow our cover." She softly bumped his side playfully with her shoulder, and Luke laughed lightly. If Grace were honest with herself, she would have to admit that it was herself she didn't trust, rather than Luke. She was grateful that whenever she went over to see Joan, Luke was mysteriously nowhere to be found. As the summer wore on, she suspected it would be harder and harder to act casually around Luke in public.

"Besides, if we both suddenly changed our plans, that would definitely raise eyebrows." Grace continued and took Luke's hand lightly as they crossed the park lawn. They had fallen into routine of meeting at Grace's corner and walking to a small, secluded park that was a few blocks away. It suited them both to find a bench and just be together.

"True," Luke briefly wondered if he was risking his life by disclosing what he was about to say. "Joan has picked up on my frequent and prolonged absences from the house. She asked me if I had a secret lover this morning." Grace stopped suddenly, and looked at him, wide-eyed. Luke added hastily, "It was her idea of a joke. I dismissed the idea out of hand. She doesn't suspect a thing."

"Good," Grace replied, and they resumed walking.

-----------------------

Joan walked into the house, later that evening, and found Luke reading on the couch in the living room.

"Hey, how was the lake?" Luke asked, looking up from his magazine.

Joan flopped into the chair next to the couch, dropping her beach bag on the floor. "It was fine. I survived the day without company," she pouted.

"Grace didn't go?" Luke asked conversationally, ignoring the arrows of guilt shooting from Joan.

"No," Joan kept her tone sulkier than she felt "She had something that she just _couldn't_ get out of. I don't know what, though. She acted like I was interrogating her for classified information when I asked."

"Mm," Luke's eyes were on the page of his magazine, his expression was one of concentration.

"She's been acting weird this summer." Joan thoughts wondered to her best friend's recent behavior. "She's mad hard to get a hold of, and when I do, she always has other plans. I have to ask her to do things days in advanced so she can 'pencil me in.'" Joan would have been more offended, but she had learned to take Grace as she was. Still. "Grace usually never plans for anything. Where could she possibly be going all that time? If I didn't know better, I'd think she has a fling on the side."

Luke cleared his throat. "Going over to Friedman's. Later."

Joan watched as he got up from the couch, tossed his magazine on the coffee table, and walked out the door without giving her another look. _He's such a freak! What's with everybody leaving me? What's with all the weird behavior? Luke and Grace both are _never_ around anymore. What could possibly be going on that-- _

Joan's jaw dropped, and she gasped. A few seconds later, she shrieked with laughter. "Oh, they're so gonna get it!" She ran up to her room to call Adam to enlist his help.

-----------------------

"Joan, why did we take the long way to school? I told you I have..."

"Somewhere to be, I know, dork, we're almost there. Let's cut through this park, it will faster," Joan interrupted, her voice impatient. Joan amazed herself with her ability to keep a straight face around Luke for the last 12 hours. Every time she saw him, she had to fight off a fit of laughter. Luckily, both she and Luke avoided each other, staying in their respective rooms for most of the night.

The trickiest part had been that morning when she talked to him. "Mom needs help setting up her classroom this morning. We're supposed to meet her there."

"Umm I have.." Luke started

"No, Luke, you're not getting out of this! Mom told me to get you to come help, and I'm _not_ doing this alone. We're leaving in ten minutes."

Now, as they entered the park, Luke was rambling about the energy saved by crossing the park was less then the energy the expended by taking the longer route, so they still had expended more energy than they would have if they'd taken the direct route and—

"Whatever!" Joan snapped. "We're here, now. Just, stop whining." Joan looked across the clearing, and squinted at two figures heading towards them. "Is that Adam and Grace? I wonder where they're going," Joan started making her was in their direction.

Luke didn't follow. "I'm going to go ahead, I don't want to keep Mom waiting."

Joan sighed in annoyance. "Come on, dork, I'll be like 5 seconds. Don't be such a dweeb."

Luke followed her, a couple steps behind. He kept his eyes forward, and his face still as they walked. Joan frowned to herself. Maybe she was wrong about this. Luke didn't seem to even register that he was about to meet Grace in front of her. It wasn't until they met Grace and Adam in the middle of the field that Joan's suspicions were confirmed. And then it was Grace, of all people, that gave them away. As Adam and Joan met and exchanged a quick kiss, Joan saw Grace's eyes flick quickly to Luke, her eyes nervous, and yet pleased.

Joan smiled inwardly. After being initially weirded out by the fact that her best friend was seeing her little brother, she had to admit that she sort of liked the idea. Grace, for all her bluster, had a really good heart, and cared deeply for her friends. Joan sensed that although Grace had acted annoyed by her brother's attentions all last year, she was actually moved by them, as though she was surprised that anyone would look twice at her. Grace was a great person, and Joan was glad that her friend finally let someone recognize that about her.

Luke, of course, always admired the qualities Grace possessed, and wonder of wonders, proved to be equal to the challenge that was Grace Polk. Watching Luke date Glynis had been painful, not just because she knew that Grace and Luke were being stupid about how they felt, but because Luke and Glynis together caused their gawkiness and awkwardness to be amplified 1000 percent. They brought it out of each other, when in fact, alone, they had moments of being almost normal. Luke and Grace, on the other hand, always had a natural comfort around each other. Luke seemed to relax and could actually hold his own with Grace; and Grace's defenses dropped, just a little, when she was with Luke.

But, they had deceived her, and for that they must be punished.

"Hey guys," Joan said casually, "Where you going."

"The metal store has some scraps they're giving me. Grace is helping me get them." Adam replied.

"I don't know why he didn't call you, Girardi, I have better things to do." Grace, in recovering from seeing Luke in front of Adam and Joan, assumed her typical can't-be-bothered, don't-care attitude.

"Oh. Well, Luke and I have to go help our mom with her classroom. Hey, Adam, is it tomorrow that your cousin is coming?"

"Yeah," Adam replied, unusually alert. "She'll be here until Labor Day. Hey, Luke, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with her and Jane and me while she's here. She's a really nice girl and I think you guys would hit it off, yo."

Luke, quiet until now, turned red and stammered, "Uh...I have a lot to do, before school starts, and....'

"Oh, come on, Luke, it might be fun. You need a social life, Einstein." Joan chided.

"Yeah, dude. She's in your grade, and really smart and into science and stuff. Grace met her last summer, remember, Grace?" Adam looked innocently at his life long friend. He felt a twinge of guilt at the incredulity on her face, and hoped she would forgive them for their little prank.

"Heidi? You want to set him up with Heidi? That's like Glynis, Part 2." No one missed the protest in Grace's voice.

"Cha. They're perfect for each other." Adam replied.

"Yeah, I think so too," Joan said, then continued after a beat, "Only, wait, there's a problem." Joan looked at her brother, contemplating.

"What's that, yo?"

Joan crossed her arms, and leaned a little toward Adam, looking at Luke and Grace. She triumphantly took in Grace's stare of disbelief and Luke's miserable expression. "Well, see, my little brother is dating my best friend!"

Joan smiled wickedly at the pair in front of her as their jaws simultaneously dropped.

"Gotcha." She said.

Luke and Grace looked at each other, turning red. Luke quickly looked down and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Grace's eyes narrowed and she glared at her two best friends. Letting out a growl, she grabbed Luke's hand and stalked away, leaving Adam and Joan in fits of laughter.

---------------------------

Joan and Adam returned to her house later that night to find Grace and Luke sitting on the couch, eating popcorn and watching _Ocean's Eleven_.

"Hey," she said, flopping down on the couch next to Grace, who nudged Luke to move over to make room for Joan and Adam. "Oh, major hotness."

"It's a cool film about the rich and powerful getting taken to the cleaners." Grace took some popcorn from the bowl and handed it to Joan.

"Whatever. It's eye candy. Good choice. These guys know how to be stealthy. You should take notes." Joan remarked, as she took a handful of popcorn and handed the bowl to Adam.

"Funny." Grace said, popping more popcorn in her mouth before finding Luke's hand with her own.

End.


End file.
